I'm not totally opposed to spending money. It's just that I'd rather spend it on more rewarding things, like books, yoga classes and food. And beer. So in the interest of full disclosure allow me to admit that I did limit myself during my recent experiments with trendy clothing. First, no single item purchased could be more than $50 and the sum total of items purchased at one time could not exceed $150. That may sound harsh, but you'd be surprised what you can find in that price range. Second, no items could be bought blind. Everything had to be tried on and evaluated prior to purchase. Finally, if something did catch my eye that was listed at full price I had to leave it and check back in two weeks to see if it had gone on sale. Considering the cool spring in Chicago and the generally crappy economy, sales were inevitable.

However, to ensure that I did buy some things and that I didn't just stick to items in my comfort zone, I had a few trend rules as well. First, I had to identify at least three trends and buy an example of them regardless of how I personally felt about the trend. Second, when trying clothes on I had to judge them based on whether or not they fit, not whether or not I actually liked them or thought I'd look better smeared in cow dung. And of course, I had to promise to wear each article at least once outside the confines of my home.

The result of the strict shopping code was that I bought a respectable amount of new clothing, not all of which I hate. I got to know the joys of places like H&M, Old Navy and Target as well as neighborhood boutiques. I had a little bit of fun shocking my friends with out-of-character clothing choices, although probably not enough fun to justify the depletion of my dignity. And I learned that, even with a puritanical spending ethic strictly enforced, keeping up with the latest trends is a major drain on your finances as well as your time.